If you happen to regularly visit racetracks across America, then you might have caught a glimpse of a particular 1967 Plymouth Barracuda wearing a semi-official livery of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office. What you may not know is that this particular racer was built by actual cops for educational purposes.
The car is being raced by Scott Graham, a now-retired police sergeant, on behalf of a non-profit called Los Angeles Sheriff’s Deputies Motorsports (LASD Motorsports). Initially set up as a means to make young people aware of the dangers of illegal racing, the organization now makes hundreds of appearances at schools, community events and race tracks, with the same educational purpose in mind.
The star of each of LASD’s shows is of course the 1967 Plymouth Barracuda police car. Although the group has another car regrown in-house (a BMW 3 Series E30), it is the Cuda that captures the imagination of the people attending.
Race-bred, the machine was fitted with all the required hardware by Graham himself, and so far the car had two interpretations. In the first attempt, the stock 318ci V8 was replaced with a 512ci unit, and later, for the second interpretation, with as smaller 440ci one, that develop 950 and 712 hp, respectively.
With these monsters under the hood and aided by a wealth of other modifications, including a Pro-Trans 727 transmission (fitted on both variants), the Barracuda police car has been raced for a quarter-mile at 8.82 and 8.94 seconds, respectively, going as fast as 152.8 mph (245.9 kph).
“I’m extremely happy with what we’ve accomplished with LASD Motorsports,” said according to hotrod.com Scott Graham.
“The car helps create a positive image of law enforcement with young people, who otherwise may only encounter deputies in a negative way, and does its part to deter gang involvement, drug use, and illegal street racing.“
You can learn more about the LASD Motorsports organization and their projects at this link.
The star of each of LASD’s shows is of course the 1967 Plymouth Barracuda police car. Although the group has another car regrown in-house (a BMW 3 Series E30), it is the Cuda that captures the imagination of the people attending.
Race-bred, the machine was fitted with all the required hardware by Graham himself, and so far the car had two interpretations. In the first attempt, the stock 318ci V8 was replaced with a 512ci unit, and later, for the second interpretation, with as smaller 440ci one, that develop 950 and 712 hp, respectively.
With these monsters under the hood and aided by a wealth of other modifications, including a Pro-Trans 727 transmission (fitted on both variants), the Barracuda police car has been raced for a quarter-mile at 8.82 and 8.94 seconds, respectively, going as fast as 152.8 mph (245.9 kph).
“I’m extremely happy with what we’ve accomplished with LASD Motorsports,” said according to hotrod.com Scott Graham.
“The car helps create a positive image of law enforcement with young people, who otherwise may only encounter deputies in a negative way, and does its part to deter gang involvement, drug use, and illegal street racing.“
You can learn more about the LASD Motorsports organization and their projects at this link.